Florida has an unspoken rule for Governors: do not mess with the mouse. However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not listened and started a war — one that he shouldn’t have — against Disney. 

The main economic source in Florida is tourism, largely because of Disney. Because of this, the past Governors of Florida have left Disney to their own devices, allowing them to manage themselves, much like a county does. But Governor DeSantis couldn’t let it go. On March 8th, 2022, Florida passed a bill called the “Parental Rights in Education” bill or, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, that restricted what is allowed in a public classroom from kindergarten to third grade. This bill prohibited the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. 

Pending the 2022 “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, quickly and publicly announced that they did not support the bill. This caused Governor Desantis to angrily speak out against the “Magic Kingdom of woke corporatism,” thus starting the war between DeSantis and Disney. 

By the end of March 2022, Disney had ceased all political contributions to Florida politicians. Disney employees had also participated in multiple walkouts for LGBTQIA+ rights. Alongside CEO Chapek’s apology for not being a “stronger ally in the fight for equal rights,” he also stated that Disney had plans set on getting the bill repealed. 

On April 19th, 2022, DeSantis announced his plan to revoke Disney’s status as a special district, succeeding on April 21st. By November, Disney had replaced CEO Bob Chapek with Bob Iger, the man whom Chapek had — ironically —replaced in 2020. With this, CEO Iger and Governor DeSantis worked together to find common ground regarding the legal standing of Disney and their mini government, Reedy Creek.  At the beginning of 2023, DeSantis announced his plan to have the state take over Disney’s district. But without his knowledge, Disney signed a contract that put much of what Reedy Creek was in control of, into the hands of Disney itself. Preserving Disney’s control. 

DeSantis continues to attack Disney with threats, including one to build a prison near the theme park, making it a less appealing location for tourists. In April 2023, Disney sued Governor Desantis for targeting Disney in a government retaliation. Following this, lawmakers in Florida created a bill forcing the inspection of Disney’s Monorail, due to be carried out every 3 years by the Florida Department of Transportation. The bill was signed by DeSantis on May 11th, 2023. The latest of this feud happened on May 18th, when Disney backed out of a development plan that would have provided thousands of jobs to Floridians. 

With this loose construction of the DeSantis-Disney timeline, it is clear to anyone that DeSantis is on a power trip. Even Former President, and future presidential competition of DeSantis, Donald Trump, called DeSantis out for going after a company that supplies Florida’s economy and its citizens with thousands of opportunities, and that certainly says something.

Check out our social media for more resources: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/necessarybehavior  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/necessarybehavior/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/necessarybehavi  

Tumblr: https://necessary-behavior.tumblr.com/  

And you can find more articles like this on Lemon-AidFeatured Image

Sources :

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/09/disney-v-desantis-florida-lawsuit

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/08/disney-lawsuit-against-desantis-expanded.html

https://www.nytimes.com/article/disney-florida-desantis.html

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/26/desantis-vs-disney-timeline-florida-war-against-the-magic-kingdom/70154844007/ 

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/nation/2022/03/08/dont-say-gay-bill-passed-florida-legislature-desantis-sign/9426160002/ 

https://twitter.com/WaltDisneyCo/status/1502377943267381249

Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash